Worth the Effort Ch. 01

"Are you sure?" Morgan gave her a hopeful look. "Isn't there inventory to review or something?"

"Where don't you want to go?" Casey asked. "Oh, right. Tonight's Brianna's engagement party."

"Yes." Morgan put her face in her hands. "I don't want to go. It's going to be awful. I might say something I'll regret."

"I'm sure it will be awful," Casey agreed, "Fucking awful, even. But maybe you need to say something someone will regret, even if it isn't you."

"It just won't end well." Morgan shook her head. "I'm sure of it. It never does. I'd be better off not going. To this or the wedding."

"Not going is an option."

"No, it isn't. I could get away with not going tonight, maybe, but my parents would be beyond upset if I didn't go to the wedding."

"Look on the bright side," said Casey. "Maybe you'll break a leg or something, then you'll have an excuse not to go."

"Good god, Casey. Thanks a lot." Morgan sighed. "Even with that, I'd have years of listening to Brianna complain how I put myself ahead of my family."

"Like she fucking doesn't?"

"Yes, but you know that what applies to her doesn't apply to the rest of us. If she does it, it's important and we'll understand and blah blah blah. If I do it, then I'm a selfish and uncaring bitch."

"Well, sure, that's why I like you."

Morgan laughed. "Thanks. Good to know."

"Look, seriously," Casey said, "it's just one night. Don't worry about the rest of it. Just get through tonight. Small steps."

"Okay. You're right. One night. Just a few hours. I can do that." Morgan nodded.

I can't do this, Morgan thought as she sipped some wine later that evening.

Evan's parents were hosting the party, which was good given the size of the guest list. Morgan thought that her parents' house wouldn't have held half as many people. The Delaneys' house was also far more upscale and modern in its furnishings. Morgan suspected that even if her parents' house had been bigger, it wouldn't have met Brianna's standards.

However, as she had expected, Brianna had planned an excellent party. The decorations were pretty and tasteful, and the food was fantastic.

Morgan had managed to keep a low profile so far. Brianna had given Morgan a vague hello when she arrived, which suited her fine. The less interaction she had with her sister, the better all around. She'd said hello to her parents, who were in the den with Evan's parents and some other people. They had shooed her out and told her to mingle, which was not easy.

She chatted with Brianna's friends here and there, but Morgan didn't know them well and didn't have much to say. The few times Morgan was on the verge of an actual conversation, Brianna appeared and steered her friends away.

Despite what Brianna thought, Morgan loved her sister. She had even made an effort to tone her look down for the party. Her hair had purple streaks, but she wore a long-sleeved blouse that covered her tattoos, and dress slacks. She didn't mind making small adjustments. However, she was not about to push everything in her life aside for Brianna's, and she'd long ago decided not to take Brianna's insults or catty remarks sitting down.

At least the food was good, Morgan thought, and went to get some more.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Wow. You actually came. I don't believe it." Evan grinned and held the door open while Shane stepped in.

"I said I would," Shane grumbled. He scowled at Evan's grin. "Stop that or I'm leaving right now."

Evan laughed and clapped Shane on the shoulder. "Okay, okay. I promise to stop having a good time at my own party."

Shane gave in and laughed himself. "Sorry, man. I'll behave. Everything looks great, by the way."

"Thanks. Come on, I'll show you where the food is."

"Excellent. I'm starved. Had to skip lunch."

Evan shook his head. "You work too hard."

"Keeps me out of trouble." Shane rubbed at his face. He was tired, but hadn't wanted to miss the party. He hadn't even had time to change out of his work clothes, although he'd removed his tie and left it in the car. He had kept his jacket on, not sure of the dress code. He took a deep breath, reminded himself that a party with good people, drinks and food was a fine way to end the work week and start the weekend.

"Here, let me introduce you to some people." Evan led Shane towards the food table, but not quite close enough for Shane to get any. Shane hoped no one heard his stomach rumble as he went through the introductions. He shook hands and said hello but couldn't retain any names. When an opportunity arose, he excused himself and went to eat.

He reached for a plate as he was taking in the selection and bumped into someone. He turned to find a woman with a glass of wine and a wet sleeve. "Oh, god, I am so sorry," he said.

The woman was pretty, if unconventional in her looks. Her hair was on the shorter side, and mostly purple, which was not something he saw every day. She wore what he thought of as work-casual, and it suited her, even with the purple hair. Her green eyes were wide with surprise.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Did you get any on you? I'm really sorry. I can pay to clean your shirt."

"What? I mean—No, I—I'm fine," she assured him with a smile. "It's okay. Really. Look, it's white wine anyway." She held up her glass.

"Good." He huffed out a breath. "It's par for the course for me lately. Always something going wrong."

"Well, this only went a little wrong," she said. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Morgan Blake, Brianna's sister." She put down her glass and held out her hand.

"Hi, Morgan. I'm Shane Hunter, a friend of Evan's." He smiled and shook her hand. His stomach rumbled again and he realized Morgan had heard it when she bit her lip to hide a smile. "Sorry. I'm starved."

"So am I." Morgan laughed. "There's plenty so I figured I'd stock up."

Shane surveyed the table and saw she was right. There were plates of crackers, cheese, fruit, stuffed mushrooms, scallops wrapped in bacon, and tons of other bite-sized items. He would have killed for a burger, or a piece of chicken.

He turned to Morgan. "How many of those things do you think amount to an actual meal? I feel like I could clear off half the table without blinking."

"I know. I was afraid I took too much myself. I'm thinking maybe I'll stop somewhere on my way home for some real food."

"Good idea. But I'm still hungry and I'll just have to hope I don't embarrass myself." Shane began putting food on his plate, trying to limit himself to two of each item.

"How do you know Evan?" Morgan asked.

"We've been friends since college," Shane said.

"Oh, nice. I'm like that with my friend, Casey."

Shane was about to ask her where she'd gone to college when another woman came over.

"Hi, Morgan," she said. "Pretty fancy place, isn't it?"

"Not too shabby," Morgan agreed. "Jenna, this is Shane Hunter, a friend of Evan's. This is my sister, Jenna."

"Hi, Shane. Nice to meet you. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," said Jenna.

"No, not at all," said Shane. "In fact, I was about to be a lousy conversationalist because I was going to stuff this food in my mouth."

Morgan laughed. "You do seem to be having the worst time trying to actually eat, after you told me you were so hungry."

"It's a conspiracy." Shane shook his head. "It must be."

"You go eat," Morgan said. "I promise to make sure no one else interrupts you."

"My hero." Shane grinned and found a seat nearby.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Morgan took a drink to cover her suddenly mixed-up feelings. Something about Shane had hit her like a ton of bricks. He was tall, handsome, and had amazing eyes. She had managed to talk to him, even flirt a little, which had amazed her since when she first saw him, she'd been speechless.

She was surprised by her own response. She never reacted to people like that, and certainly not to corporate types like Shane. Morgan hadn't even noticed the corporate aspect at first—the suit jacket and dress shirt, open at the neck and the tie missing—because of his smile and his eyes.

She'd brazened her way through a conversation partly to prove to herself that she wasn't so bowled over by him. It had mostly worked, she thought. She felt someone nudge her with an elbow and turned to find Jenna. "What?"

Jenna's grin was huge. "You like him. You do."

"What?" Morgan sipped her wine. "What are you talking about?"

Jenna laughed. "Nice try. Come on, tell me. He's cute. Any sparks? Chemistry? Rainbows? Triumphant music?"

"No." Morgan tried to look stern.

Unperturbed, Jenna waited.

Morgan sighed. "Okay, you're right. He's cute. I could probably like him."

Jenna laughed. "I'll quit while I'm ahead. Want me to come over tomorrow and do your hair?"

"Sure, that would be great. Before one? I'm taking the afternoon shift at the store."

Jenna nodded. "No problem. What color do you want?"

"I was thinking of blue, if you have it. A darker shade. But I'm flexible."

"Blue looks good on you. Good choice."

"Dear God, you won't have blue hair at the wedding will you?" Brianna looked horrified as she walked over to them.

"No, I figure I'll go with whatever your color scheme is." Morgan smiled.

"Jesus, can't you be normal for just one day?" Brianna glared at her.

"What's normal?" Morgan shrugged. "Honestly, Brianna, I'm not doing anything extreme. And I don't know why you care so much."

"Did you ever stop to think how your stupid hair choices might reflect on your family? What people might think of us because of what you do?"

Morgan almost dropped her wine. "Are you serious? I color my hair. I'm not a serial killer."

"Did you decide on the bridesmaids dresses yet?" Jenna interjected before the argument could get worse.

"Yes. Here." Brianna pulled up a picture on her phone. "I'll send you the link."

Morgan winced when she saw the gown. Nothing about it would look good on her.

"I wanted you all to have some notice since everyone will need to make some changes," said Brianna. "Trina and Liv will need to lose weight. We'll set up times for a tanning salon. And Morgan, you need to do something about your tattoos."

"Like what?" asked Morgan.

"Like get them removed."

Morgan shook her head. "That's not going to happen."

"I don't want your ugly tattoos in my wedding pictures!"

"Would you rather have scars? Because that's what I'd have if I got them removed. Which I'm not going to do."

"You are going to ruin my wedding." Brianna glared.

"How about I wear a jacket with the dress? I don't mind paying extra." This was true. Morgan knew that not everyone would like her tattoos, and at a formal event focusing on someone else, she was willing to take an extra step or two.

"No one else will have a jacket! It won't match!"

"Fine. Look, why don't I just not be a bridesmaid? I'll help somewhere else. I can be an usher, or I'd be happy to design a program, or do a reading, something like that. I'll wear something with long sleeves."

"You have to be a bridesmaid or the numbers will be off!"

"Then let me wear a jacket," Morgan repeated. "Or, why not just let us all pick our own gowns? Maybe all in the same color? Then I can pick one that covers my tattoos—"

"I don't want jackets! I want everyone in the same dress. It's tradition. Christ!" Brianna all but stomped her foot. "I knew it. I just knew you would try to make this all about you."

"How is it all about me when I'm offering to compromise?" Morgan felt her temper rising. "I don't mind paying for a jacket or a shawl, but I'm not having fucking surgery."

"You always—" Brianna began.

"We can work this out later," Jenna soothed. "There's plenty of time. Brianna, before I forget, I wanted to tell you I could do hair and makeup for you."

Brianna gave Jenna a cold look. "Don't be ridiculous. We'll be getting a professional stylist."

Morgan felt as though the whole room had gone still. No sound, nothing as everyone looked at them, even though she knew it was her imagination and only a couple of people were looking over. She gave her anger a moment to die down, but it flared up when she saw Jenna close to crying.

"That's enough." Morgan took Jenna's hand. "Come on, Jenna. We're leaving."

"What?" Brianna demanded. "You can't go. You'll embarrass me if you leave now."

"You'll live." Morgan took a deep breath. "Look, Brianna, I am happy for you that you're getting married. It's great and I like Evan a lot. I get that planning weddings can be stressful, but that does not give you the right to insult people. Trina and Liv look just fine, and Jenna made you a generous offer." Morgan put an arm around Jenna's shoulder. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go."

"Then you—you can just forget about being in the wedding party!" Brianna said.

"Promise?" asked Morgan.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Shane watched the exchange between the Blake sisters and was glad to be out of the firing zone. It did not look like things were going well.

"Why are you hiding here?" Evan asked.

Shane gave him a weary look. "I have been trying to eat. I was hiding here so I could finally do it." He gestured over to Morgan and her sisters. "And then that happened."

Evan cleared his throat. "Ah, yeah. Morgan and Brianna do not always get along."

"Yeah, I can see." Shane gestured at a chair next to him. "You can talk to me, but I'm going to eat."

"I wonder what that was all about," Evan said as they watched Morgan put an arm on her younger sister's shoulder and then lead her away.

"I don't know but it looked like it might get ugly," Shane said between bites. The women had started to raise their voices at point, and it looked like Morgan had tried to calm herself down. Brianna had done the same, presumably since it was her party and she didn't want to have a scene in front of the guests.

"Sometimes it does." Evan nodded. "I like Morgan, she's really cool, but she does get on Brianna's nerves. One time Morgan got a tattoo, and Brianna just about went nuts. Which is kind of dumb, right? I mean, it's Morgan's, and it was on her shoulder, so it's not like Brianna even has to see it."

"I have enough trouble with my own family dynamics," Shane said, "so don't ask me to figure out someone else's."

Evan nodded. "I just observe and keep quiet. It's safer that way."

"Sounds like a good idea." Shane ate a little more. "So, have you decided on any details yet? A place or a date?"

"Brianna is handling everything, and she's planning on making it big. I'm not supposed to tell anyone yet." Evan shook his head. "She's stressing out already, and we've only been engaged a few weeks."

"Well, it is a big deal. So you're gonna splurge?"

"Looks like." Evan looked around and then lowered his voice. "Right now we're looking at the Masterson House, but don't tell anyone."

Shane whistled. "Wow, that's some expensive stuff right there. You can handle that?"

"Brianna says her parents are going to pay for it."

"Oh. That's cool."

"Brianna insists on tradition. Don't worry, I don't expect them to pay for all of it."

"Still, the offer is nice."

"It is. Brianna wants to do a lot of stuff. Fancy gift bags and things. I have to admit if her parents pay for some things, it will be a big help. Generally, though, I've found it's best to just smile and nod when it comes to wedding plans."

"Do you want a big wedding?" Shane asked.

"Not really," said Evan, "but it's just one day. I can get through it." He gave Shane a wry grin. "With enough prozac."

Shane smiled and shook his head.

Shane's parents had had a huge wedding, and they'd put more effort into that than the marriage. Neither of his parents had learned from it, either. Shane remembered how his mother and father had both remarried, again with lavish ceremonies, and how neither of those marriages had lasted either. They'd made lasting marks on his half-siblings, just as they had on him. Somehow he and Mark and Chloe had managed to become and remain close as they grew up, even though Mark and Chloe weren't related. Safety in numbers, he mused.

"It's your wedding too," Shane reminded Evan. "Don't forget. If you don't want a big blow-out, you should say so."

"I know. But I'm good for now."

"All right then." Shane downed his water. "That's better. I was so hungry. I'm not sure how much of that I tasted."

"Now that you're done, why don't you say hi to my parents? They're in the other room. They wanted to be sure to see you."

"Sure, sounds good. Lead on."

Shane got up and threw away his plate, and wondered what had happened between Morgan, Brianna and Jenna. When he'd watched Morgan with Jenna, he had known the feeling exactly; he'd often protected his younger siblings in similar situations as they grew up. He supposed all families had their issues, even intact ones.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"What does she want now?" Morgan asked. A couple of weeks had passed since the engagement party, and Morgan was still a bridesmaid. She didn't understand how or why.

"I don't know," Jenna said. Her frustration was clear over the cell phone.

"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure I don't want to hear it."

"Brianna's getting married. She just wants to make it memorable."

"Jen, stop it. She's being horrible. Remember what she said at the engagement party?" Morgan switched the phone to her other ear.

"I know, I know." Jenna sighed. "I guess I was hoping we could talk her down."

"It's too late for that, and she wouldn't listen to either of us anyway. I'm too much of a freak, and you're the baby sister."

"You're probably right, but just—try not to, I mean, let's just—get through it."

"You mean, don't get into a fight with her about it, right?" Morgan asked. "Damn, why does everyone let her get away with this stuff? Why am I the only one who will call her on it?"

"I'm sorry." Jenna sounded guilty. "I know I shouldn't. I just don't want to fight, and I don't want to upset Mom and Dad."

"I don't either, but it's not worth letting her run roughshod over me. Or you. I'm sorry." Morgan sighed; now she felt bad for making Jenna feel bad. "I'll be there, but I'll probably be late. We're short-staffed. Casey will cover for me but she has an appointment."

Jenna sighed. "It shouldn't be this difficult."

"No, it shouldn't," Morgan agreed, "but somehow it always is."

"I know. Look, I have to go. I'll see you there, okay?"

"Yep, see you." Morgan disconnected the call.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. How Jenna could overlook what Brianna had said at the engagement party was beyond her, but that was Jenna. She was quick to forgive and forget, and Morgan knew she'd never change that about Jenna because it was one of her best features.

If Jenna wanted to compromise for or appease Brianna, Morgan knew she couldn't do anything about it. On the other hand, it didn't mean that she had to follow suit, and she had no intention of doing so.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Thursday arrived and Morgan sighed as she hurried through the rain to the restaurant. She was late. Everything she'd done to minimize how late had been negated.

She stepped inside and gave her name to the hostess. The woman gave her a sympathetic smile and offered to take her coat. Relieved to be out of both the rain and her jacket, Morgan handed it over and took the ticket in exchange.

With a sigh, she turned and followed the hostess over to the table. There were a dozen people including Brianna, Evan, and Jenna. Morgan knew most of the others a little, but none of it made her late arrival less awkward.

"Hi, everyone," she said. "Sorry I'm late."

"Hey! What happened?" Jenna stood up and came to hug her.

Morgan gave her sister a rueful look. "What didn't? Traffic, rain, plague."

"For God's sake, Morgan, sit down." Brianna glared at her.

"Hi, Brianna. I'm good, thanks. You?"

Jenna spoke up before either of her sisters could say anything else. "Morgan, let's find you a seat."